Electronic stock market terminal game

ABSTRACT

An electronic stock market game having a plurality of display and input positions at which players may trade in stock listed by the game. Each display shows a player, the price at which a stock is selling and gives general and specific information affecting the price of the stocks. A player selects a stock to trade in and keys in his order. A microprocessor executes the order, if possible, and controls the display to indicate the status of all stocks and the players account. The object of the game is to accumulate assets having over a predetermined value.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to games and, more particularly, to an electronicstock market game.

There have been many attempts to capture the essence of the marketplacein games. It seems clear that if the elements which lend the excitement,despair, and elation to the marketplace could be captured in a game thensuch a game would be an instant commercial success. The longevity ofinterest in the wall known Monopoly game demonstrates the attraction ofgames related to the marketplace.

However, most of those games heretofore devised to simulate themarketplace are, like the above-mentiond game, board games which seem tototally divorced from the real situations encountered in the marketplacethat their attempts to simulate fall far short of the reality.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a gamewhich realistically simulates the operation of the stock market.

It is another object of this invention to provide an electronic game inwhich a number of players compete against one another in accumulatingwealth by buying and selling stocks and in taking part in othertransactions which closely simulate those of the stock market.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide an electronicstock market game which simulates the activities carried on on an actualstock market and which simulates the effect of different economicconditions on the stock in which the market deals.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The foregoing and other objects of the invention are accomplished by anelectronic stock market game which simulates buying, selling, and othertransactions on a stock exchange and which provides for the interplay ofmarket factors to affect the price of the stocks and the conditions ofthe companies. Each of a number of players have individual electronicdisplays each of which simulates the display on the board at a stockexchange or at an individual stock market terminal. The informationpresented on the displays is used by the players in deciding to deal inparticular stocks. The displays present a limited number of stocks,their prices, their dividends, and various other information which mayaffect the market for a particular stock. Associated with his display,each player has a keyboard for inter alia buying, selling, sellingshort, placing calls, and placing puts with respect to stock listed bythe display. The object of the game for each player is to acquire morethan a particular sum of money.

A microprocessor controls the displays and keeps track of the stocks,their ownership, their price, totals of cash and stock owned by eachplayer, and the like. The microprocessor also makes sure that the rulesof the game are followed by the players.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent from the specification taken in conjunction with the drawingsin which like elements are referred to by like reference designationsthroughout the several views.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a stock market game constructed inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a detailed view of a display and a keyboard which may be usedby an individual player in the game of this invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic/block diagram illustrating the circuitry of thegame of this invention; and

FIGS. 4(a)-4(r) are flow charts illustrating the operation of the gameof this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to FIG. 1 there is shown a perspective view of a gameconstructed in accordance with the invention. The game 10 comprises ahousing 12 having four player positions 13, 14, 15, and 16. Each of theplayer positions has a keyboard 17 and a display 18.

The keyboard 17 and the display 18 utilized by each player are moreclearly shown in FIG. 2 which is a view of one player position takendirectly into each of the keyboards 17 and the display 18 for clarity ofunderstanding. As may be seen in FIG. 2, the keyboard 17 includes twelvekeys, buttons, or switches 20-31. The keys 20-29 each have a companystock market identification printed on the upper face thereof and one ofthe numbers from zero through nine printed on the lower face thereof.The key 30 has the letters "OPT" (which indicate option) printed on theupper face, a minus sign printed in the middle of the face, and letters"SELL" printed on the lower face. The key 31 has the letters "BORR"(which indicate borrow) printed on the upper face thereof, the letters"SHORT" on the middle face thereof, and the letters "PUT" on the lowerface thereof. The keys 20-31 are used by a player for indicating theactions he desires to take with respect to the various stocks with whichthe game is played.

The display 18 has means for presenting various alphanumeric informationon an upper display line 33 (referred to as a public display) and alower display line 34 (referred to as a private display). The means fordisplaying the alphanumeric information can comprise any of a number ofmeans well known to the art such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), bulbs,or other means for forming letters and numbers. However, the preferredembodiment utilizes a rotating mirror display such as that disclosed inU.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 167,569 entitled "Display forElectronic Games and the Like," filed July 11, 1980 assigned to theassignee of the present invention. Such a display has the advantage ofeasily and inexpensively providing a message which scrolls from theright side of the display to the left in the manner of a stock marketterminal display. The utilization of a display which preferably scrollsfrom right to left enhances the reality of the simulation of the stockmarket transactions provided by the game of this invention.

As may be seen in FIG. 1, four or less players may conveniently play thegame in the preferred embodiment. Each of the players has a display 18and on each display 18 appears the information presented in the publicdisplay 33. Most often during the operation of the game, the informationshown on the public display 33 includes the stock prices of theindividual companies, the most recent change in those prices, and themost recently declared dividend. A typical message of this type is shownin FIG. 2 in public display 33 as "GML 35 -3 DIV 2." This may betranslated to mean that the General Mills Company is presently sellingfor thirty five dollars, a price which is three dollars less than thelast price quoted for General Mills; and that General Mills has recentlypaid a dividend of two dollars per share.

In addition, the public display 33 of each display 18 presentsinformation relating to the buying, selling, and other transactions of aplayer who controls more than half of the shares of any particularcompany listed in the game. The public display also, in the preferredembodiment, presents information that a particular player has won or aparticular player has lost the game.

The public display 33 also presents information affecting the simulatedmarket, specific companies, and groups of companies. For example, themessages "NEW PRODUCT," "DEMAND UP," "COSTS DOWN," and "DEREGULATED"preceded by a company indication such as "GML" indicate that (in thepreferred embodiment of the game) a four dollar price increase in thetrend of the price of the stock will take place. In contrast, thefollowing messages "NEW ENTRANT," "DEMAND DOWN," "COSTS UP," and"REGULATED" indicate when preceded by a company indication that theparticular company will experience a drop in the average trend by fourdollars. Moreover, the messages "DROUGHT," "BUMPER HARVEST," "HOUSINGDOWN," "HOUSING UP," "OPEC PRICE UP," "U.S. ENERGY SOURCE," "CABLEEXPANSION," and "HIT MOVIES" cause those companies in the food, housing,automotive and entertainment industries, respectively, to experience anincrease or drop in their trend of the stock price because of theirparticipation in the particular industry. The price trend of a companyis an amount by which the stock varies (on an average) from quote toquote.

In addition, the indications "GNP UP," "M-1 STABLE," "BALANCED BUDGET,""POPULATION UP," "INVESTMENT UP," and "PRODUCTIVITY UP" appearing on thepublic display 33 will have an optimistic effect on all of the companieslisted in the game. The indications "GNP DOWN," "M-L EXCESSIVE,""DEFICIT OF," "INVESTMENT DOWN," "PRODUCTIVITY DOWN," and "TARIFFS UP,"on the other hand, will have an opposite effect on all of the companies.That effect, however, will vary depending on the particular company, asis true of the effect on different companies in different industries inthe actual stock markets.

The table below lists the particular effect in a preferred embodiment oneach company each of the pieces of economic news listed in the lastparagraph above will have. Optimistic economic news causes the pricetrend of the particular stock to increase by the value shown whilenegative economic news will cause the price trend of the stock todecrease by the amount indicated.

    ______________________________________                                        Food Industry                                                                              GML     (1)       HJ    (2)                                      Entertainment                                                                              ABC     (2)       MCA   (2)                                      Automotive   EXX     (2)       GM    (3)                                      Housing      BC      (3)       WHT   (3)                                      ______________________________________                                    

Each of the individual private displays 34 normally displays thecash-on-hand of the player operating the display. In addition, eachdisplay 34 shows various messages related to the particular transactionschosen by the individual player and other information affecting thatplayer. For example, private display 34 indicates a "COMMODITY LOSS" ofthirty thousand dollars, a "REAL ESTATE LOSS" of twenty thousanddollars, "TAXES" of fifteen thousand dollars, "CAPITAL GAINS" of thirtythousand dollars, "TAX REDUCTION" of twenty thousand dollars, an"INHERITANCE" of thirty thousand dollars, and issues "MARGIN" calls tounfortunate players in a preferred embodiment. In addition, the winnerand any player who loses each receives an indication of his winning orlosing on the private display 34 associated with his play. Additionalmessages are also provided on the private display 34 which relate to theparticular transactions undertaken by a player. These messages aretherefore referred to below in describing the transactions.

As shown in FIG. 2 each of the keys 20-27 has a company indication atthe upper face thereof in the preferred embodiment. Those companies are:GML-General Mills, HJ-Howard Johnson's ABC-American BroadcastingCompany, MCA-Merchandising Corporation of America, EXX-Exxon, GM-GeneralMotors, BC-Boise Cascade, and WHT-White Westinghouse. Consequently, eachof these keys 20-27 is utilized in signifying a particular company withregard to which a transaction is to take place. Further, each of thekeys 20-29 has indicated thereon a particular number which may be usedto select a particular number of shares with respect to the transaction.In the preferred embodiment of the game, the shares are selected ingroups of one hundred or more up to nine hundred so that depressing anyparticular key 20-28 will indicate that the transaction is to involvefrom one to nine hundred shares. The key 29 is used when it is desiredto cancel a transactionn after it has begun by indicating no shares areaffected. In addition, the key 30 is utilized in excercising variousoption transactions, to indicate a negative number, and in sellingshares. The key 28 is also used in adjusting the price index of companygoods, and the key 29 is used to verify the net worth of a particularplayer. The key 31 is used in transactions involving borrowing, sellingshort, and in transacting a put or a call.

RULES OF THE GAME

In playing the preferred embodiment of the game, each player initiallyreceives credit from the control circuitry for having one hundredthousand dollars in cash and a credit line of one hundred thousanddollars. A player's credit line varies linearly from zero at the pointat which he has a negative net worth of one hundred thousand dollars toone hundred and fifty thousand dollars at the point at which his networth is two hundred thousand dollars or more.

Each player may buy stock in companies listed by the game so that heholds, at most, the stock of three companies at any time. As explained,purchases and sales are made in increments of from one hundred to ninehundred shares of stock. For each of the eight companies listed, fivethousand shares of stock are outstanding initially and may be purchasedby the players. Since companies may be purchased in increments of onehundred shares or more, control of a company is acquired when a playerowns two thousand six hundred shares of that company. After a playeracquires control of a company, his transactions in the stock of thatcompany are listed on the public display 33 of each player. The price ofa share of stock is initially set at random by the control circuitry ofthe game at an amount between one and sixty dollars. As more shares of aparticular stock are purchased, the price of that stock increases. Inlike manner, the sale of shares causes a reduction in the price of theshares.

Apart from the demand influenced change in price of a particular stock,each stock is initially assigned at random by the control circuitry aprice trend, a direction in and rate at which the price of the shares ofthat stock will move. A trend may have a rate of from one to seven and apositive or negative direction. For example, as the game opens, GeneralMotors may be assigned a negative trend of three so that on each roundof quotes (a round is eight quotes of share prices, one such quote foreach stock listed) its price will decrease on an average by threepoints. Superimposed upon the trend, however, is a random variation inthe price of the stock which will average zero and will cause the stockprice trend to be hidden from careless players.

When a stock with an upward trend reaches a price of sixty, it eithersplits or starts a downward price trend. The selection of a split or adownward price trend occurs at random with a probability of a splitbeing one in seven.

If a stock price goes to zero or below, the company is declaredbankrupt, the shares become valueless, and on the next round of quotes anew company with the same name will be formed with a new stock price, anew trend, and no owners.

Dividends are paid with shares of stocks below a thirty dollar valuereceiving a dividend of between zero and one dollar and shares of stocksabove a thirty dollar value receiving from one to two dollars.

Because the number of shares of each particular company are limited tofive thousand, when a stock splits the owner of a particular number ofshares is credited with cash amounting to thirty dollars per share owned(one half of the top price of sixty dollars) and retains his originalnumber of shares. He may theoretically purchase more shares in thecompany with the extra cash received from the stock split if thoseshares are then available on the market.

At each margin call, each verification of net worth of a player, andeach request for a loan, a player's net worth is verified. When aplayer's net worth is greater than one million dollars, he is declaredthe winner of the game.

As explained above, random occurrences such as real estate lossesoccurring, commodity losses occurring, and taxes being levied requirethe payment by the players of amounts to the bank of the game and areimmediately collectable by the control circuitry. If these amountscannot be collected, the player may be declared a loser.

As explained above, stock prices fluctuate in response to randomlygenerated economic events. The various economic messages (which arecompany specific, industry specific, or industry wide) are announced onthe displays 33. The effect of these economic announcements is toincrease or to decrease the price trend of a particular stock, of thestock of companies in a particular industry, or of all stock. Forexample, the announcement "GML-New Product" causes the price trend ofGeneral Mills to increase for four dollars. Thus, if General Mills had anegative price trend up three dollars at the announcement, it wouldthereafter have a positive one dollar price trend and its share valuefrom that point on would tend to increase by one dollar (ignoring randomvariation in price) with each round of price quotes.

An industry wide announcement such as "DROUGHT" on the displays 33 causethose companies in the food industry (General Mills and HowardJohnson's) to suffer a decrease of four dollars in their price trend.Thus, if General Mills had a positive price trend of five dollars at thetime of the announcement, it would thereafter have a price trend of plusone dollar for each round of quotes. Howard Johnson's price trend wouldbe affected in a like manner.

General economic indicators such as "GNP DOWN" cause all companies tosuffer a deleterious effect in their price trends by the amount setforth above. All of these economic factors constantly affect the priceof the shares of stocks available and thereby make predicting the priceof a stock a more difficult process and thereby enhance the excitementof the game.

When a player acquires control of a company, he is given the ability toaffect the price of the company by changing the price index of thecompany, By depressing the adjust key 28, followed by a key with thatcompany's name, a player may adjust the price index for his controlledcompany by an amount keyed in by depressing of the keys 20-29 in apositive sense and (if preceded by the minus key 30) in a negativesense.

The price index of a company is, in effect, an average related to theprices charged by competitive companies in an industry. For the purposesof the game, in the preferred embodiment the food and entertainmentcompanies are considered as one group of competitive companies while theautomotive and housing companies are considered as a second group ofcompetitive companies. An average price index for a group of companiesranges from five to ten while an individual company's price index rangesfrom one to fifteen.

By depressing the adjust button 28 followed by a company indication key20-27, the control circuitry is caused to display on the private display34 an indication of the price index for that company. If the price indexappears to be below what one would expect the average to be, the playermay increase the price index by pushing a numerical button 20-28 toindicate the increase. A player may decrease the price index bydepressing the minus key 30 followed by one of the numerical keys 20-28.In response to such action by the player, the control circuitry causesdisplay 34 to confirm the new price index for the company. For everydollar the player brings his price index closer to the average priceindex for the industry, the company's price trend improves by a dollar;in contrast, for every dollar a player moves away from the average priceindex, the price trend decreases by a dollar for the company.

PLAY OF THE GAME

To buy shares of a stock a player first pushes one of the keys 20-27 toselect a particular company. Depressing one of the keys 20-27 causes thecompany indication and a price of a share of stock to appear in theplayer's private display 34. The player next depresses one of the keys20-29 to indicate the number of shares (from one hundred to ninehundred) which he wishes to purchase. The internal control circuitry ofthe game first checks to determine whether that particular player ownsthe stock of three different companies. If the player does, the controlcircuitry next checks to determine whether the particular company forwhich the quote has been obtained and in which shares are to bepurchased is one of the three companies owned by the player. If theplayer already owns three other companies, the display indicates "TOOMANY ACCOUNTS" and refuses to carry through the transaction. If theplayer owns less than the stock of three companies or if the selectedcompany is one of the companies already owned by the player, the controlcircuitry next checks to determine whether enough shares are availableto complete the transaction. If insufficient shares area available, thedisplay 34 indicates "NOT AVAILABLE." If sufficient shares areavailable, the control circuitry next checks to determine whether theplayer has sufficient cash to purchase the shares. If the player hasinsufficient cash, the display 34 indicates "NO FUNDS." If the playerhas sufficient cash, the transaction is completed by the controlcircuitry; and the display 34 shows the number of shares of the companypurchased on the player's private display 34. If, however, the playerowns more than a controlling interest in the company, the information isalso displayed to all of the players on the public displays 33. Thecontrol circuitry also computes the player's remaining cash bysubtracting the cost of the shares and a fee of approximately threepercent from the cash on hand.

To sell shares in a company, a player selects the company by depressingone of the keys 20-27 carrying the indication of the particular company.In response, the control circuitry of the game exhibits on display 34 aprice quote for a share of stock in that company. The player nextdepresses the sell key 30 and one of the number keys 20-29 to indicatethe number of shares to be sold (the zero key 29 indicating no shares).The control circuitry checks the number of shares owned by the playerand signals "NOT AVAILABLE" on the display 34 if the player owns too fewshares to complete the transaction.

If the player owns a sufficient number of shares to cover the number ofshares being sold, the control circuitry displays the company indicatorand the number of shares being sold on the private display 34. Thecontrol circuitry also adds to the player's account the cash receivedfor the sale less a fee of approximately three percent for transactingthe sale and computes the player's cash on hand.

To sell a stock short, a player selects a company by depressing one ofthe keys 20-27. The control circuitry causes the display 34 to exhibitthe company indication and the current selling price. The player thenpushes the short key 31 indicating that he desired to sell two thousandshares of the selected company short. The control circuitryautomatically charges the account of the player with one half of thevalue of those shares at the current price and stores this amount as adeposit. The control circuitry also subtracts a one thousand dollar feefrom the player's cash.

Every four rounds (approximately ten minutes in the preferredembodiment), the control circuitry causes the display 33 to exhibit anindication that "OPTIONS EXPIRE." At such time, a short sale isautomatically completed, the player's deposit is returned, and theplayer receives two thousand multiplied by the old price minus twothousand multiplied by the present price in dollars. A short sale isalso completed in the same manner when a stock splits. The player mayterminate a short sale without selling and limit his loss if the priceof the stock rises by pressing the key with the company indicationbefore the "OPTIONS EXPIRE" message is presented on the display 33.

It should be noted that once a player has elected to sell a stock shorthe cannot trade in that stock without terminating the short sale andhaving the "OPTIONS EXPIRE" message appear on the display 33.

To place a call (a right to buy stock at the current price at some laterdate), a player pressed the option key 30 and then the selected companyindication key 20-27. This causes the control circuitry to automaticallyplace a call at the option price for three thousand shares of theselected company at a fee of three dollars per share or nine thousanddollars. The control circuitry indicates that the call transaction hasbeen placed by causing the display 34 to exhibit the company indicationfollowed by the words "CALL OPTION." Thereafter, the player presses thecompany indication key 20-27 in order to exercise the option to purchasethe three thousand shares at the selected price. The call option is alsoexercised automatically upon a stock split. The exercise causes theplayer's account to increase (presuming the stock price has increased)by the difference between three thousand times the new share price minusthree thousand times the option price in dollars. If a player does notexercise his option to purchase the shares, the option expires when themessage "OPTIONS EXPIRE" is displayed on display 33; and the player'sloss is limited to the nine thousand dollar fee initially charged forplacing the call option. As with the short sale transaction, a playercannot deal in the stock for which a call has been placed until he hasexercised the call option or the option has otherwise expired.

To purchase an option to "put" stock (an option to sell at a later dateat a price determined at the puchase of the option), the player pressesthe option key 30 and the put key 31 followed by a company indicationkey 20-27. The control circuitry of the game automatically charges theplayer three dollars for each of the three thousand shares includedwithin each put option and causes the display 34 to exhibit the companyindicator followed by the words "PUT OPTION."

The player may exercise the put option by depressing the company key20-27 before the "OPTIONS EXPIRE" message appears on display 33. At thetime of exercising the option, the control circuitry credits theplayer's account with an amount equal to three thousand times the optionprice minus three thousand times the new price of the stock in dollars.As with the short sale and call options, the player cannot deal in theparticular stock until the option has been either exercised orterminated. The put option terminates when the "OPTIONS EXPIRE" messageappears and upon the split of a stock.

At any time during play a player may verify his holdings by depressingthe verify key 29. Depressing the key 29 causes the control circuitry tocause the display 34 to show each company owned by the player followedby the number of shares in that company and the value of the holding inthe particular company. The various options to purchase and sell sharesin a particular company are listed without value for in computing networth they are considered to have no value. Following the share holdingsin each company and the options held to purchase or sell shares in acompany is a total net worth for the player. At any time when a player'snet worth is computed, if that net worth is greater than one milliondollars, the control circuitry declares the player a winner and exhibitsthis upon the public display 33 to all players. In addition, anindication that the player has won is exhibited on the private display34 of the winning player.

In order to borrow from the internal bank of the game, the playerdepresses the borrow key 31. This causes the control circuitry to run acredit check and to display on the display 34 the particular creditavailable for that player. As explained before, assuming no prior loans,a player has a zero line of credit when his net worth is minus onehundred thousand dollars or below; a player has a one hundred and fiftythousand dollar line of credit when his net worth is two hundredthousand dollars and above. A player's credit line varies linearlybetween those amounts.

After depressing the borrow key 31 and receiving an indication of thecredit available to him, a player presses one of the number keys 20-29to indicate the amount in tens of thousands of dollars he desires toborrow. The control circuitry displays 10% of this amount of display 34as a fee, adds the total amount to the cash of the player, and subtractsthe ten percent fee from the cash of the player. Thereafter, the controlcircuitry collects ten thousand dollars plus a ten percent fee everyfour rounds of quotes. At each collection, the control circuitrycompletes a credit check and if the loan amount outstanding exceeds thecredit line available to the player, the control circuitry issues amargin call. The player must then improve his position before the nexttime for collection of loans or the control circuitry automaticallyrequires a repayment of fifty thousand dollars at the next collectionperiod. This may well cause the player to go bankrupt and lose the game.Bankruptcy of a player causes the control circuitry to display anindication that the particular player is a loser on the public display33 and on the private display of the player losing.

A player can pay back any amount of the loan before collection time bypressing the borrow key 31, the minus key 30, and a number key 20-28indicating the amount in ten thousands of dollars to be repaid. In sucha case, the control circuitry collects no fee upon the repayment.

FIG. 3 is an illustration, partially in schematic and partially in blockdiagram form, of circuitry which may be utilized in a preferredembodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1. The arrangement shown inFIG. 3 includes four keyboards 17 (designated KBD1-KBD4). Each of thekeyboards may be substantially identical to that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2above. The keyboards are interconnected by six electrical connectors 49and are joined by those same connectors to control circuit 50. Each ofthe keyboards 17 is also connected to the control circuit 50 by anindividual pair of lines designated 00-33. The control circuit 50 isinterconnected to a control circuit 52 by a set of four conductors whichconnect at terminals R5 of each of the control circuits 50 and 52. Thecontrol circuits are also interconnected at their terminals D7, D8, andby a timing pulse generator circuit 54 placed between terminals OSC ofeach of the control circuits 50 and 52.

As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the control circuits50 and 52 may be implemented in any of a number of different ways.However, as with many prior art electronic game circuits, the preferredembodiment of the invention utilizes integrated circuit microprocessors(miniature digital electronic computers). Such integrated circuitmicroprocessors are well known and include all of the input, output,memory, logic, and control circuitry of a special purpose digitalcomputer in miniature form. In general, such circuits have both randomaccess memory (RAM memory) and read only memory (ROM memory). The ROMmemory has connections formed by masking operations during theconstruction of the basic circuitry of the control circuit to provide acompletely wired circuit which includes the program controlling theoperation of the microprocessor. Such an arrangement is often describedas a dedicated memory circuit. The RAM memory of the processor isutilized for storage of the various bits of information utilized duringthe operation of the circuitry.

Although many electronic games known to the prior art utilize controlcircuitry on a single chip, the present invention utilizes twoessentially similar control circuits 50 and 52 which are individuallymasked in such a way as to provide a substantial increase in thecapability of the game over games of the prior art so that moresophisticated operations may be accomplished.

Various control circuits are offered by a number of manufacturers andare well known to the prior art. A preferred embodiment of the presentinvention uses two HMC-45 microprocessors manufactured by Hitachi, Ltd.The circuit for such a microprocessor is better described in the"Programmer's Reference Manual For HMCS 40 Series 4 Bit Single ChipMicrocomputers" published by Hitachi, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan.

Power is applied to each of the control circuits 50 and 52 by means of apower source 56 connected through an isolating diode 58 to a DC to DCpower converter 60 which provides nine volts of DC power at terminalsV_(SS) of control circuits 50 and 52 and at a test terminal on each ofthe circuits 50 and 52. An input jack 62 is provided so that alternatingcurrent may also be utilized to power the game. Each of the controlcircuits 50 and 52 has each of its V_(DISP), V_(DD), and V_(BB)terminals grounded.

The output of control circuit 52 is connected at terminals R₆ by fourelectrical conductors 63 to a switching arrangement 64 which selects oneof four output conductors 65 which are connected to the display 18 andcontrol the digits display thereof. The control circuit 52 is alsoconnected at its terminals R₀ through R₃ by means of fourteen lines 67to a switching circuit 66 containing switches for selecting amongfourteen lines 69 connecting to display 18 to control the segmentsdisplay thereof.

The particular embodiment shown in FIG. 3 also has control circuit 52connected at terminals TNTO and D to a position sensing circuit 68 whichconnects to the diode 58. The position sensing circuit 68 is alsoconnected to a motor 70 which is used to drive the rotating display, allas explained in application Ser. No. 167,569 referred to above.

By operating one of the keyboards 17 in the manner described in thisspecification, different indications are made to appear on the display18 in accordance with operation of the stock market game of thisinvention.

FIGS. 4(a)-4(r) together constitute a flow chart describing the overalloperation of the game of this invention. FIG. 4(a) describes the overalloperation of the microprocessors designated as circuit 50 described inFIG. 3. The circuit 50 accomplishes all computations for the game,services the keyboards 17 of the players, and controls the operation ofthe speaker shown in FIG. 3. The routine described by the flow chartshown in FIG. 4(a) is entered at step 100 at which initialization of thecircuitry is accomplished. Initialization includes, among other things,setting the prices of the eight stocks to values selected at random,selecting a price trend for each stock and providing one hundredthousand dollars in cash and one hundred thousand dollars in credit toeach of the player's accounts.

The program moves from step 100 to step 102 at which random numbers aregenerated and stored for use later in the operation of the processor 50.The program then moves to step 104 to check the status of each of theplayer's keyboards 17. At step 104, the status of each of the keys onthe keyboard 17 is compared with its status on the last cycle of theprocessor 50 so that debouncing may be accomplished. The program movesfrom step 104 to step 106 at which a determination is made as to whetherany of the keys on any of the keyboards 17 of the players have beennewly depressed (depressed since the last cycle of the processor 50). Ifno key has been newly depressed, the program moves to step 108 to checkthe communication lines with the display processor circuit 52 whichcontrols the appearance of messages on the displays 33 and 34. Theprogram then moves to step 110 to determine whether service is requiredby the display processor 52. If no service is required at this point,the program recycles to step 102 and repeats the process.

If service is required by the display processor 52, the program moves tostep 112 to determine the particular type of information needed by thedisplay processor 52 and then to step 114 to generate the particularmessage required. From step 114, the program moves to step 116 to sendthe message to the display processor 52 and recycles to step 102.

If at step 106 it is determined that a particular key on a particularplayer's keyboard 17 has been depressed since the last cycle, theprogram moves to step 118 to initiate keyboard service and to step 120to provide a beep sound at the keyboard of the player requiring theservice so that he may understand that his request for service has beenrecognized. The program then moves to step 122 to determine whether theparticular player is in the middle of a transaction. If the player isjust initiating a stock market transaction, the program moves to step124 to determine whether key 31 has been depressed indicating that theplayer desires to borrow. If the player does not desire to borrow atstep 124, the program moves to step 125 to determine whether key 30 hasbeen depressed indicating that the player wishes to initiate an option(put or call) transaction. If the player does not desire an optiontransaction at step 125, the program moves to step 126 to determinewhether key 29 has been depressed indicating the player wishes to verifyhis account. If the player does not desire to verify his account at step126, the program moves to step 127 to determine whether key 28 has beendepressed indicating that the player wishes to adjust the price trend ofa company he controls. If the player does not desire to adjust a pricetrend at step 127, the program moves to step 128 to determine whetherone of the keys 20-27 has been depressed indicating that a companyselection is being made.

From step 124, if the player desires to borrow, the program moves tostep 130 to initiate the borrow subroutine. From step 125, if the playerdesires an option transaction, the program moves to step 132 to initiatesuch a transaction. From step 126, if a player wishes to verify hisaccount, the program moves to step 134 to execute the subroutine forverifying accounts. If at step 127 the player desires to adjust theprice trend of a company, the program moves to step 136 to initiate thesubroutine for adjusting the price index. If at step 128 a particularcompany has been selected, the program moves to step 138 to determinewhether the player has an option on a particular company and to step 140to exercise the particular option. If the player has no option on thecompany at step 138, the program moves to step 142 to execute one of theroutines for buying, selling, or selling short stock in the particularcompany.

From step 142 if a player desires to sell rather than buy stock, theprogram moves to step 144; and if the player desires to sell shortrather than simply sell stock, the program moves to step 146 to executethat subroutine. As may be seen in FIG. 4(a), if a player desires tolower the price index at step 136 rather than raise it, the programmoves to step 148 to accomplish this alternate subroutine. Furthermore,if at step 132 the player desires to place a put rather than a call, theprogram moves to step 150 to initiate this subroutine. Finally, if atstep 130 the player desires to pay back cash already borrowed ratherthan to borrow new cash, the program moves to step 152 to initiate thissubroutine.

If at step 122 it is found that the player is in the middle of atransaction, the program moves to step 154 to determine which stage ofwhich transaction the player is in. From step 154 the program branchesto the subroutines of steps 142, 144, 136, 148, 132, 150, 130 and 152.

After completing the subroutine of any of steps 130, 132, 134, 136, 140,142, 144, 146, 148, 150 and 152, the program moves to step 116 at whichmessages regarding the particular operation taking place are sent to thedisplay processor 52. The program they recycles to step 102.

FIG. 4(b) is a flow chart illustrating the steps of a subroutine foroperating the display processor 52 of the invention. The subroutine isentered at step 160 at which the RAM of the processor 52 is initialized.The program then proceeds to step 162 to display information for each ofthe four players. From step 162, the program moves to step 164 to sendinformation regarding the status of the display processor 52 to themaster processor 50. From step 164, the program moves to step 166 todetermine whether a reply has been obtained from the master processor;and, if no reply has been obtained, the program recycles to step 162. Ifa reply has been obtained, the program moves to step 168 to receive datafrom the processor 50 and to process and load the RAM of the displayprocessor 52.

From step 168 the program moves to step 170 to determine whether thelast letter of a public message is presently being displayed. If thelast letter of a public message is being displayed, the program moves tostep 172 to reload the public message display memory and then recyclesto step 162. If at step 170, the last letter of a public message is notbeing displayed, the program moves to step 174 to determine whether thelast letter of a private message is being displayed on display 34. Ifthe last letter of a private message is being displayed, the programmoves to step 176 to reload the memory for the private message display34 and then recycles to step 162. If the last letter of a privatemessage is not being displayed at step 174, the program moves to step178 to increment the counters for both the private and public displaysand then recycles to step 162.

Referring to FIG. 4(c), there is shown a flow chart depicting thesubroutine for implementing steps 138 and 140 (shown in FIG. 4(a)) in apreferred embodiment of the invention. It will be recalled that a playercan only conduct one transaction at a time with regard to a company.Thus, a short sale or other option transaction must be executed beforeanother transaction can occur and the program assumes that any companyindication after an option order has been entered is to exercise theoption.

The subroutine is entered at step 200 at which the share accounts of theparticular player are reviewed by the control circuitry. As each companyis reviewed, the program moves to step 201 to see if all companies ownedby or optioned to a player have been reviewed. If all companies have notbeen reviewed, the program moves to step 202 at which it is determinedwhether this company is the one selected by the player and whetheroptions exist for this particular company. If the company scanned is notthe company selected by the player or if it is the selected company butno options exist to sell short, put, or call stock of the company, theprogram recycles to step 200 and selects the next company owned by oroptioned to the player for review.

If at step 202 it is found that with respect to the selected company anoption exists, the program moves to step 204 to determine whether theoption is to sell short. If the player has an option to sell shortshares in this particular company, the program moves to step 206 toenter this short sale and to compute the difference between threethousand times the original price minus two thousand times the newprice. The program then moves to step 208 to add this cash to theplayer's account, to eliminate the option in memory, and to reduce theplayer's account by the number of shares sold short.

If at step 204 no option for a short sale exists, the program moves tostep 210 to determine whether a call option presently exists. If a calloption exists, the program moves to step 212 to enter the call optionand to compute the player's cash from the transaction by the differencebetween three thousand shares times the new price minus three thousandshares time the old price. The program moves from step 212 to step 208explained above.

If at step 210 it is determined that no call option exists, the programmoves to step 216 to enter a put option and to compute the player's cashfrom the transaction as the difference between three thousand sharestimes the old price minus three thousand shares times the new price. Theprogram then moves to step 208.

From step 208 the program moves to step 218 at which the "OPTIONSEXPIRED" message is scheduled for presentation on a particular player'sdisplay 34. From step 218, the program exits the subroutine and returnsto the routine shown in FIG. 4(a).

If at step 201, the scan of all companies has been completed and theselected company has not been found to be one on which an option exists,then other than an option transaction is occurring; and the programmoves to step 222 to store an indication that the company selected bythe player is "of interest" and to step 224 to schedule a quote for thatcompany of the company indicator and the price at which the company ispresently selling. This quote will be displayed on display 34 for theparticular player. From step 224 the program exits the subroutine andreturns to point X in the routine shown in FIG. 4(a).

FIG. 4(d) is a flow chart describing a subroutine for step 142 shown inFIG. 4(a) in a preferred embodiment for completing the buying processwhen it has been determined that a company is of interest at step 222shown in FIG. 4(c). The subroutine is entered at step 226 at which it isdetermined whether the clear entry key 29 (the zero key) has beendepressed or not. This key is used to cancel a transaction once it isstarted. If the key 29 has been depressed, the program exits thesubroutine and returns to point X in the routine shown in FIG. 4(a). Ifthe key 29 has not been depressed at step 226, the program moves to step228 to determine whether the sell key 30 has been depressed. If the sellkey 30 has been depressed, the program moves to step 230 to record thisinformation in memory and then returns to the routine shown in FIG.4(a).

If the sell key 30 has not been depressed at step 228, the program movesto step 232 to determine whether the short sell key 31 has beendepressed. If the short sell key has been depressed, the program movesto point M in the subroutine shown in FIG. 4(f) to execute step 146shown in FIG. 4(a).

If the short sell key 31 has not been depressed at step 232, the programmoves to step 234 to scan the player's accounts and to 238 to determinewhether the player can buy another company. It will be remembered that aplayer may deal in the stock of no more than three companies so if theplayer owns or has options on three companies prior to this step, theprogram moves to step 240 to schedule a "TOO MANY ACCOUNTS" message forthe display 34 of the particular player and then returns to the routineshown in FIG. 4(a).

If at step 238 it is determined that the player can deal in morecompanies, the program moves to step 244 to determine the cash price forthe particular transaction. This is equal to the number of shares timesthe first share price plus the fee for the transaction (the dollaramount of the purchase price divided by thirty-two to the nearest onehundred dollars).

From step 244 the program moves to step 246 to determine whether theplayer has enough cash for the transaction. If the player does not haveenough cash, the program moves to step 248 to cause the message "NOFUNDS" to be displayed on the player's display 34 and then exits thesubroutine and returns to the routine shown in FIG. 4(a). If the playerhas sufficient cash at step 246 to complete the transaction, the programmoves to step 250 to determine whether enough shares of the particularstock are presently available for the transaction. If insufficientshares are available, the program moves to step 252 to schedule themessage "NOT AVAILABLE" for the display 34 of the particular player andthen exits the subroutine to return to the routine shown in FIG. 4(a).

If there are sufficient shares to complete the transaction at step 250,the program moves to step 254 to complete the transaction by decreasingthe number of shares outstanding in the particular stock, raising theprice of the particular stock by the transaction dollar amountmultiplied by six over two hundred fifty-six thousand, increasing theplayer's account by the particular number of shares purchased,subtracting the cash value of the transaction from the player's cash,and recording the player's cash, and recording the player'scash-on-hand.

The program then moves to step 256 to determine whether the player ownsmore than half the shares of the particular company. If the player ownsmore than half the shares, the program moves to step 258 to schedule theannouncement on the public display 33 that the particular playercontrols the particular company. From step 258 and from step 256 if theplayer owns less than half the shares of the company, the program movesto step 260 to schedule the presentation of a message that the player isbuying a particular number of shares on his private display 34 and thenmoves to step 262 to indicate to the control circuitry that thetransaction has been completed. From step 262, the program exits thesubroutine and returns to the routine shown in FIG. 4(a).

If at step 230 of FIG. 4(d) a sell order has been entered, when theprogram reaches step 154 in the routine shown in FIG. 4(a), the programmoves to the subroutine for implementing step 144 shown in FIG. 4(e).The subroutine is entered at step 270 at which a determination is madeas to whether a key other than one of the keys 20-28 has been depressed.If one of these keys which is not in the sell routine has beendepressed, the program exits the subroutine and returns to the routineshown in FIG. 4(a).

If none of these keys have been depressed, the program moves to step 272to determine whether the player owns stock in the particular companyselected. If the player does not own stock in the company selected, theprogram moves to step 274 to schedule the appearance of the message "NOTAVAILABLE" for display on the private display 34. The program then exitsthe subroutine and returns to the routine shown in FIG. 4(a). If theplayer owns stock in the selected company, the program moves to step 276to determine whether he has a sufficient number of shares for thetransaction. If he has an insufficient number of shares, the programmoves to step 274 to schedule the "NOT AVAILABLE" message and exits thesubroutine.

If the player has a sufficient number of shares at step 276 to completethe transaction, the program moves to step 278 to determine whether theplayer controls the selected company. If the player controls thecompany, the program moves to step 280 to schedule the presentation onthe public display 33 of a message which indicates that the particularplayer is selling the particular stock. From step 278 if the player doesnot control the company and from step 280, the program moves to step 282to complete the sell transaction by subtracting the shares sold from theplayer's account, adding the cash value of the transaction to theplayer's cash, subtracting the broker's fee from the player's cash,totaling the player's cash, lowering the stock price by the transactionvalue times six over two hundred fifty-six thousand, and signaling tothe control circuitry that the transaction has been completed. From step282, the program moves to step 284 to schedule a message that the playeris selling a particular number of shares for display on the player'sprivate display 34 and then exits the subroutine to return to theroutine shown in FIG. 4(a).

FIG. 4(f) is a flow chart describing the operations of a preferredembodiment of the invention in accomplishing steps 132, 146 and 150illustrated in FIG. 4(a). Step 132 is entered (from step 125 shown inFIG. 4(a)) at step 290 at which the control circuitry is caused to storean indication that the call option key 30 has been depressed. Theprogram then exits the subroutine and returns to step 116 illustrated inFIG. 4(a).

Upon the next cycle of the program when it is determined at step 122illustrated in FIG. 4(a) that the player is in the middle of thetransaction and at step 154 that it is a transaction initiated bydepressing the option key 30, the program enters the subroutine shown inFIG. 4(f) at step 292 at which it is determined whether the put key 31has been depressed. If the put key 31 has been depressed, the programmoves to step 294 to store that information in the memory of the controlcircuitry and exits the subroutine to return to step 116 of the routineshown in FIG. 4(a).

If the put key 31 has not been depressed at step 292, the program movesto step 296 to determine whether the zero key 29 has been depressed toindicate a cancel of the particular transaction. If so, the programexits the subroutine and returns to step 116 shown in FIG. 4(a). If thezero key 29 has not been depressed at step 296, the program moves tostep 298 to determine whether one of the other keys which does not carrya company indicator has been depressed. If such a key has beendepressed, the program moves to step 300 to schedule a message ondisplay 34 that the entry is an "INVALID ENTRY" and exits thesubroutine.

If at step 298 one of the company indication keys 20-27 has beendepressed, the program moves to step 302 where it begins the "FIND"subroutine illustrated in step 304. The FIND subroutine, in essence,determines whether the player is able to deal with the stock of thiscompany or not; and, if he may deal with the particular company, recordsthe transaction. The subroutine is entered at step 306 at which theplayer's accounts are scanned. From step 306 the program moves to step308 to determine whether the player has an interest in the particularcompany selected. If the player has an interest in this company, hecannot under the rules of the game register a call, put, or sell thecompany short, so the program moves to step 310 to schedule an invalidentry message for display on display 34 and exits the subroutine toreturn to the routine shown in FIG. 4(a).

If the player does not have an interest in the selected company at step308, the program moves to step 312 to again scan the player's accountsand to step 314 to determine whether the player has stock or options inless than three companies and can therefore deal in this selectedcompany. If he cannot deal in the company, the program moves to step 316to schedule the message "TOO MANY ACCOUNTS" and exits the subroutine. Ifhe can deal in this company, the program moves to step 318 to record thecompany and number of shares, the current price of the stock, and thetype of option being exercised (call, put, or short sale). Where theprogram is entered through step 302, the call option is recorded at step318 and the program returns to step 304 to exit the "FIND" subroutine.

The program then moves to return to the particular subroutine from whichit emanated, in this case the call subroutine at step 320. From step320, the program moves to step 322 to compute the cash effect of thetransaction by subtracting a three dollar fee per share (nine thousanddollars) from the cash account of the particular player. The programthen moves to step 324 to schedule the presentation of a "CALL OPTION"message on the private display 34 of the particular player and exits thesubroutine to return to step 116 shown in FIG. 4(a).

If at step 154 (FIG. 4(a)) it is determined that the player is in themiddle of a put transaction (the key 31 has been depressed as determinedat step 292 and recorded as depressed as determined at step 294), theprogram enters the subroutine of FIG. 4(f) at a step 326 and movesimmediately to the FIND subroutine at step 304. The program then movesthrough the FIND subroutine as explained above and returns therefrom tostep 328 after having recorded the company and number of shares, thecurrent price and that a put option is being registered (presuming thatthe option can be validly entered).

The program moves from step 328 to step 330 to compute the cash effectof the transaction by subtracting nine thousand dollars from theplayer's cash (three dollars times three thousand shares) and totalingthe player's cash remaining. The program then moves to step 332 toschedule the exhibition of "PUT OPTION" on the private display 34 of theplayer and exits the subroutine to return to step 116 of the routineshown in FIG. 4(a).

If at step 232 shown in FIG. 4(d) it is found that the player is in themiddle of a short sale transaction, the program enters the subroutine ofFIG. 4(f) at step 334 and moves directly to the FIND subroutine step304. The program moves through the FIND subroutine as explained aboveand, having recorded at step 318 the company and number of shares, thecurrent price per share, and that the option type is a short sale(presuming a short sale is valid at this time for this player in thisstock), returns to step 336. The program then moves to step 338 tocompute the cash effect of the transaction by subtracting one thousandtimes the share price (the deposit) and a one thousand dollar fee. Atstep 338, the player's cash remaining is also computed; and the programmoves to step 339 to schedule the "SOLD SHORT" message for display onthe private display 34 for the particular player. From step 339, theprogram exits the subroutine and returns to step 116 as shown in FIG.4(a).

FIG. 4(g) illustrates the subroutine for step 136 when entered from step127 shown in FIG. 4(a). The program moves from step 127 to step 345 atwhich an indication is stored in memory that the price index is beingadjusted. The program then returns to the routine shown in FIG. 4(a).

FIG. 4(h) illustrates a subroutine for steps 136 and 138 of FIG. 4(a)when it is determined at step 154 shown in FIG. 4(a) that the priceindex is being adjusted as recorded at step 345 in FIG. 4(g). It will berecalled that a player may change the price index of a company which hecontrols. The subroutine is entered at step 350 at which it isdetermined whether the player controls the particular company. If theplayer does not control the particular company, this indication isstored in memory at step 352 and the program moves to step 354 toschedule the presentation of the message "INVALID ENTRY" on display 34of the particular player. The program then returns to the routine shownin FIG. 4(a). If the player does control the company at step 350, theprogram moves to step 356 to store an indication of this control andthen moves to step 358 to schedule the presentation of a message showingthe present price index of the particular company on the private display34 of the particlar player. The program then exits the subroutine.

Having seen the price index of the particular company, the player mayadjust the price index by depressing the adjust key 28 or firstdepressing the minus key 30 and then depressing the adjust key 28. Whenthe minus key is first depressed, the program enters the subroutine atstep 360 where a determination is made as to whether the minus keys hasbeen depressed. If the key has been depressed, the program moves to step362 to store an indication of this occurrence and then exits thesubroutine. If the minus key 30 has not been depressed, the programmoves to step 364 to determine whether key 29, 30, or 31 has beendepressed. Since all of these keys are invalid, their depression causesthe program to exit the subroutine and return to the routine shown inFIG. 4(a). If a number key 20-27 has been depressed at step 364, theprogram moves to step 366 to vary the price index of the selectedcompany by the selected amount.

In like manner, if the minus key 30 has been depressed prior to thedepression of a number key 20-27, the program ultimately enters thesubroutine through a step 368 at which the depression of keys 29-31cause the program to exit the subroutine. If a number key 20-27 has beendepressed at step 368, the program moves to step 370 to indicate that aprice index changes is to be made in a minus direction and then to step366.

At step 366, the program computes the new price index for the stock inaccordance with the key 20-28 depressed, then determines how far theprice index originally was from the average price index and how far thenew company price index is from the average price index in order todetermine how much change has taken place in the difference between theaverage price index and the price index of the company. At step 366 theprice trend for the company is also varied with the change (one dollarprice plus or minus change in the price trend for the company for eachdollar by which the price index is closer to or farther from,respectively, the average of the price indexes). In order to provide amore difficults game, step 366 also adjusts the price indices of each ofthe individual companies down by one point if the average is above tensfor the companies and up by one point if the company average is belowfive. Such an adjustment makes it more difficult for all of the playersto follow the trends. From step 366, the program moves to step 358 toschedule the appearance of a message announcing the new price index forthe company on the private display 34 of the particular player and exitsthe subroutine to return to step 116 shown in FIG. 4(a).

If a player wishes to borrow from the bank, the program moves from step124 shown in FIG. 4(a) to the subroutine of steps 130 and 152. These areshown in FIGS. 4(i),4(j) and 4(k). The initial subroutine is shown inFIG. 4(i) in which the program moves from step 124 to step 380 to storein memory an indication that the borrow key 31 has been depressed. Theprogram then moves to step 382 to establishd the credit line presentlyavailable for the player as equal to the player's cash on hand plus thevalue of his shares minus any loans already outstanding to the player.The program then moves to step 383 to determine whether the net worth ofthe player is greater than a million dollars. If the player's net worthis over a million dollars, the program moves to step 384 to store anindication that the player is a winner of the game. From steps 384 andfrom step 383 if the player's net worth is less than a million dollars,the program proceeds to step 386 to determine whether the creditpresently available (maximum credit available minus any loansoutstanding) is greater than one hundred fifty thousand dollars. Sincethis is the maximum credit line, if it is exceeded the program moves tostep 388 to establish the credit line at one hundred fifty thousanddollars minus loans outstanding.

From step 388 and from step 386 if the credit maximum limit is notexceeded, the program moves to step 389 to determine whether the creditline of the player is less than zero. If the credit line of the playeris less than zero, the program moves to step 390 to establish the creditline at zero. From step 390 and from step 389 if the credit line is notless than zero, the program moves to step 391 to schedule a messageindicative of the credit presently available to the player. From step391 the program returns to step 116 shown in FIG. 4(a).

On the next iteration of the control circuitry, presuming that theborrow transaction is occurring, the programs returns to the subroutineshown in FIG. 4(j) at step 400 where it is determined whether the minuskey 30 has been depressed. If the minus key 30 has been depressed, apayback of a debt is in progress; and the program moves to step 401 tostore an indication of this and then returns to step 116 shown in FIG.4(a). If the minus key 30 has not been depressed at step 400 the programmoves to step 402 to determine whether the clear entry key 29 has beendepressed. If the key 29 has been depressed, the program returns to step116 of FIG. 4(a).

If at step 402 the clear entry key 29 has not been depressed, theprogram moves to step 404 to determine whether the player has requestedto borrow more than the credit line established at step 391 shown inFIG. 4(i). If the player has requested more than his credit line, theprogram moves to step 406 to schedule the message "INVALID ENTRY" andreturns to step 116 shown in FIG. 4(a). If at step 404 the player hasnot requested more than his credit line, the program moves to step 407to add ninety percent of the loan to the player's cash, to decrease theplayer's credit available by the loan amount, and to total the amount ofthe player's cash-on-hand. From step 407, the program moves to step 408to schedule the appearance of a message stating the fee for thetransaction on the particular player's private display 34. The programthen returns to step 116 shown in FIG. 4(a).

The subroutine for the payback of a loan in step 152 of FIG. 4(a) isshown in FIG. 4(k). The subroutine is entered at step 410 at which adetermination is made as to whether the player is trying to pay backmore than he owes. If the player is trying to pay back an overage, theamount is decreased at step 411 to the amount actually owed by theplayer. From step 411 and from step 410 if the player is not trying topay back more than he owes, the program moves to step 412 to subtractthe payment from the amount owed and to increase the player's creditavailable. The program then moves to step 413 to schedule the message"THANK YOU" for the player's private display 34 and returns to step 116shown in FIG. 4(a).

FIG. 4(l) illustrates a subroutine for accomplishing the generation ofmessages included in step 114 of FIG. 4(a). The subroutine is entered atstep 414 at which it is determined whether general information isneeded. If general information is needed, the program moves to step 415to determine whether a winner is to be declared. If a winner has beenfound, the program moves to step 416 to schedule a message that aparticular player has won the game. From step 416, the program returnsto step 116 shown in FIG. 4(a).

If at step 415 a winner is not to be declared, the program moves to step418 to determine whether a loser is to be declared. If a loser has beendetermined, the program moves to step 419 to schedule the message that aparticular player has lost for display on display 33 of all player'sconsoles. From step 419, the program returns to step 116 shown in FIG.4(a).

If at step 418 a loser is not to be declared, the program moves to step420 to determine if a player has just gained control of a company. If aplayer has just acquired control of a company, the program moves to step421 to schedule a message for the public display 33 that a particularplayer controls a particular company. The program then returns to step116 of FIG. 4(a).

If at step 420 no player has just gained control of a company, theprogram moves to step 423 to determine whether a player who controls acompany is presently selling shares in that company. If a controllingplayer is selling shares in the controlled company, the programs movesto step 424 to make a public announcement of this fact on display 33;and the program then returns to step 116 shown in FIG. 4(a).

If at step 423 a controlling player is not selling in a controlledcompany, the program moves to step 426 to determine whether an entiresequence of eight companies and their share prices have been displayed.If eight companies have not yet been displayed (that is, a round ofcompanies has not yet been shown on the public displays 33), the programmoves to step 427 to increment the count of the companies which havebeen displayed and to step 428 to generate a random number between zeroand two hundred and fifty-five.

If a step 428 the random number is less than twenty-eight (inapproximately one out of ten cases), the program moves to step 429 togenerate messages regarding particular companies, particular industries,or of general interest to all of the players. The program moves fromstep 429 to step 116 shown in FIG. 4(a). If at step 428 the randomnumber selected is greater than 28 (in approximately nine out of tencases), the program moves to step 430 at which quotes are generated,share prices are adjusted, dividends are paid, stocks are split, andbankruptcies are declared. From step 430, the program returns to step116 shown in FIG. 4(a).

If at step 426 the round of companies has been completed, the programmoves to determine whether this is the fourth sequence of companyquotes. Each sequence of eight company quotes is given a number of fromone through four. On every fourth sequence options expire. Consequently,the program moves from step 432 to step 433 to cause the various optionsto expire and then returns to step 116 shown in FIG. 4(a). If at step432 the sequence is not four, the program moves to step 435 to determinewhether this is the third sequence of companies. If this is the thirdsequence of companies, the program moves to step 436 to simulate playersat the unfilled console stations. From step 436, the program moves tostep 437 to reset the sequence of companies to be quoted and then movesto step 427.

If at step 435 the sequence is not three, the program moves to step 438to determine whether this is the second sequence of companies. If thisis the second sequence of companies, the program moves to step 439 torun credit checks on the players and issue margin calls and then movesto step 437 to set the company being counted to zero. If at step 438this is not the second sequence, the program moves directly to step 437.

The subroutine for step 433 of FIG. 4(l) in which options expire isshown in FIG. 4(m). The subroutine is entered at step 450 at which themessage "OPTIONS EXPIRE" is scheduled for display. From step 450, theprogram moves to step 451 to scan each of the players. As each player isscanned, the program moves to step 452 to scan the stocks owned by thatplayer and the options which that player holds. From step 452 theprogram moves to step 454 to determine whether any stock is sold short.If a stock is sold short, the program moves to step 455 to force a shortsale of that stock. If a stock is not sold short at step 454, theprogram moves to step 456 to determine whether the player has either aput or a call on the particular stock. If a player has a put or call ona stock, the program moves to step 457 to eliminate that option. Fromsteps 455, 457, and 456 (if the player does not have a put or call on aparticular stock), the program moves to step 459 to determine whetherthis is the last account of the player to be reviewed. If this is notthe last stock held by the player or upon which the player has anoption, the program returns to step 452 to scan the remaining accountsof the player.

If this is the last account of the player, the program moves to step 460to determine if this is the last player to be reviewed. If this is notthe last player to be reviewed, the program moves to step 451 to scanthe other players and their accounts. When the last account of the lastplayer has been scanned, the program returns to step 116 shown in FIG.4(a).

The subroutine of step 436 for simulating players at consoles which arenot occupied by human players is shown in FIG. 4(n). The subroutine isentered at step 470 at which each of the player positions is scanned.The program moves next to step 471 to determine whether all four playerpositions have been scanned. If all four player positions have beenscanned, the program exits the subroutine and moves to step 437 shown inFIG. 4(l). If at step 471 all player positions have not been scanned,the program moves to step 472 to determine whether a human playeroccupies the position. This is determined by determining whether one ofthe keys on the keyboard 17 at that position has been depressed toindicate that a human occupies that position. If a human player occupiesthe position, the program recycles to step 470 to scan the other playerpositions.

If a human player does not occupy the position at step 472, the programmoves to step 474 to determine whether the simulated player owns anyshares. If the player owns shares of stock in a company, the programmoves to step 475 to sell those shares, to adjust the number ofavailable shares on the market, to zero the share account of the playerposition, and to add the proceeds to the cash-on-hand at the playerposition. The program then moves to step 476 to scan all of thecompanies. If at step 474 the player owns no shares in a company, theprogram moves directly to step 476.

As each company is scanned, the program moves from step 476 to step 477to determine whether all companies have been scanned. Once all companieshave been scanned, the program returns to step 470 to continue the scanof player positions. Before completion of the scan at step 477, theprogram moves to step 478 to determine whether the particular companybeing scanned has an upward price trend greater than or equal to five.If it does not have a trend of five or greater, the program returns tostep 476 to pick another company. If the program at step 476 determinesthat the company selected has a good upward price trend, the programmoves to step 480 to determine whether the price of that company isrelatively inexpensive (less than thirty dollars per share). If thecompany is not relatively inexpensive, the program moves to step 476 toselect another company.

If at step 480 the company being scanned is found to be relativelyinexpensive, the program moves to step 481 to determine whethertwenty-five hundred shares of the company are available. If less thantwenty-five hundred shares are available, the program moves to step 482to buy all shares available and then to step 483 to record the purchaseand subtract the transaction cost from the player's accounts. If at step481 twenty-five hundred shares are available, the program moves to step485 to buy twenty-five hundred shares and then to step 483 to record thepurchase and subtract the cost from the player's account. The programthen recycles to step 470.

FIG. 4(o) illustrates a flow chart for the subroutine of step 439 shownin FIG. (l) in which credit checks and margin calls are accomplished.The subroutine is entered at step 490 at which each player is scanned.As each player is scanned the program moves to step 491 to determinewhether that player has borrowed any money. If at step 491 it is foundthat the player borrowed to money, the program moves back to step 490 toscan the next player. If at step 491 a player is found to have borrowedmoney, the program moves to step 492 to scan the stock accounts of theplayer and to step 493 to add the value of this shares. From step 493the program moves to step 494 to determine whether this is the lastaccount of the particular player and, if not, returns to step 492 toscan the remaining accounts.

If this is the player's last account, the program moves to step 496 toadd the player's cash to the value of his shares, subtract the moneyborrowed by the player, and arrive at his net worth. From step 496 theprogram moves to step 498 to determine whether the player's net worth isgreater than a million dollars. if the player's not worth is greaterthan a million dollars, the program moves to steps 499 to store anindication that the player is a winner and returns to step 490 to scanthe other players.

If at step 498 the net worth of the particular player is less than amillion dollars, the programs moves to step 500 to compute a value todetermine whether a margin call should be issued (value=net worth+2X(credit line)--$200,000). From step 500 the program moves to step 502 todetermine whether the value computed is greater than zero. If the valuecomputed is not greater than zero, the program moves to step 503 todetermine whether a margin call has already been issued for the player.If a margin call has not been issued, the program moves to step 504 toissue a margin call and to step 505 to store an indication that a margincall has been issued. The program then moves to step 506 to subtract tenthousand dollars from the player's cash and to step 507 to record theamount subtracted.

If at step 503 a margin call has already been issued to the player, theprogram moves to step 508 to subtract fifty thousand dollars from theplayer's cash (or less if the player owes less) and to eliminate theindication in the memory of the control circuitry that a margin call hasbeen given to the player. From step 508 the program moves to step 507 torecord the payment by the player. From step 507 the program returns tostep 437 shown in FIG. 4(l).

If a step 502 the player's net worth is greater than zero, the programmoves directly to step 506 without issuing a margin call.

FIG. 4(p) is a flow chart illustrating a subroutine for carrying out thedetails of step 430 shown in FIG. 4(l). The subroutine is entered atstep 510 at which random numbers having a value from minus to plus threeare generated and added at random to the price trend for each company.The sum of the random number and the trend value is limited to a rangeof minus to plus seven and is added or subtracted from the companyprice. The effect of step 510 is to cause the stock to move up or downin accordance with its price trend with a random variation about thecenter of the price trend.

The program moves from step 510 to step 511 at which it is determinedwhether the new price of the stock is sixty-three dollars. If the newprice of the stock is exactly sixty-three dollars, the stock is split;and the program moves to step 512 to scan the accounts of each player todetermine whether he owns or has options for stock of the particularcompany. For each stock scanned for each player, the program moves tostep 513 to determine if this is the company of interest having a priceof sixty-three dollars. If the company is incorrect, the programrecycles to look at the next stock of the player. If at step 513 aplayer is found to have an interest in the company, the program moves tostep 515 to determine if the player owns the company. If the player ownsstock in the company, the program moves to step 516 to give the playerthirty dollars times the number of shares in which he owns and thenmoves to step 517 to determine if this is the last account of theplayer. If this is not the last account, the program recycles to step512.

Ultimtely, the program moves to step 518 to determine whether this isthe last player; and, upon finding the last player, moves to step 519 toset the new price of the stock at thirty dollars, to step 520 toschedule the appearance of a message on the public display 33 that theparticular company has been split and then returns to step 116 shown inFIG. 4(a).

If at step 515 the player does not own the company being split, theprogram moves to step 522 to determine whether the player has sold thecompany short. If the player has sold the company short, the programmoves to step 523 to execute the short sale. If the player has not soldthe company short at step 522, the program moves to step 524 todetermine whether the player has a call for the company which is beingsplit. If the player has a call for the company being presentlyreviewed, this call is exercised at step 525. If the player does nothave a call for the company, the program moves to step 526 to determinewhether the player has a put option for stock of the company. If theplayer has a put option, the program moves to step 527 to cancel theput. From each of steps 516, 523, 525 and 527 the program moves to step517.

If at step 511 the price of a particular company is not exactlysixty-three dollars, the program moves to step 529 to determine whetherthe price of the company is equal to or less than zero. If the price ofthe company is equal to or less than zero, the company is bankrupt andthe program moves to step 530 to set up a bankruptcy. From step 530, theprogram moves to step 531 to create a new company under the old name, toset the price of the new company at the old price plus ten dollars, andto set the price trend of the new company at the old price trend plusthree points. This creates a cheap stock having what is probably apositive price trend. The program then moves to step 532 to schedule theappearance of a message on the public display 33 that the old company isbankrupt.

From step 532, the program moves to step 533 to scan the stock accountsof the players one by one. The program moves from step 533 for eachshare of each player to step 534 to determine if the player owns sharesin the bankrupt company. If the player owns shares, the accounts forthose shares are zeroed (given a value of zero) at step 535. If theplayer does not own shares in the particular company, the program movesto step 536 to determine if the player has sold the shares short. If theplayer has sold the shares short, the program moves to step 537 toexecute the short sale.

If the player has not sold the shares short at step 536, the programmoves to step 538 to determine whether the player has a call on thestock of the bankrupt corporation. If the player has a call, the programmoves to step 539 to cancel the call. If no call has been posted at step538, the program moves to step 541 to determine whether the player has aput for the bankrupt stock. If the player has a put, the program movesto step 542 to exercise the put.

From steps 535, 537, 539, 542, and 541 (if the player has no put), theprogram moves to step 544 to determine whether this is the last accountof the particular player being reviewed. If not, the program returns tostep 533 to complete the review of all accounts for that particularplayer. If at step 544 this is the last account of the particularplayer, the program moves to step 546 to determine whether this is thelast player to be reviewed. If this is not the last player, the programreturns to step 533 to scan the remainder of the players. If at step 546the last player has been reviewed, the program exits the subroutine andreturns to step 116 shown in FIG. 4(a).

If at step 529 the price of the company is greater than zero, theprogram moves to step 550 to determine whether the price is over sixtydollars. If the price of the company is over sixty dollars, the programmoves to step 551 to set a new trend for the stock at the old trend plusthe excess by which the stock exceeds sixty minus five points. A newprice for the stock is also set at the old price plus the new trend.From step 550 if the price is less than sixty dollars and from step 551,the program moves to step 552 to generate a dividend of zero or onedollar if the price is less than thirty for the stock and of one or twodollars if the price is greater than or equal to thirty dollars for thestock. At step 552 also, this dividend is paid to the players. Theprogram then moves to step 553 to schedule the appearance of a messageon the display 33 declaring the dividend and listing the new price ofthe stock. From step 553 the program returns to step 116 shown in FIG.4(a).

FIG. 4(g) is a flow chart illustrating the details of a preferredembodiment of step 429 shown in FIG. 4(l) during which various conditionmessages are generated for display on the display 33. The subroutine isentered at step 560 at which a random number between one and fivehundred twenty-six is generated. From step 560 the program proceeds tostep 561 at which it is determined whether the number falls betweentwenty-one and twenty-eight (in one out of thirty-two cases). If thenumber falls between twenty-one and twenty-eight, the program moves tostep 562 to provide an industry specific message. If the random numberdoes not lie between twenty-one and twenty-eight at step 561, theprogram moves to step 563 to determine whether the number lies betweennine and twenty. In the approximately three out of sixty-four cases inwhich the random number lies between nine and twenty, the program movesto step 564 to generate a general interest message. If the random numberdoes not lie between nine and twenty at step 563, the program moves tostep 566 to determine whether the number lies between one and eight. Inthe one case out of thirty-two in which the number lies between one andeight, the program moves to step 567 to generate a company orientedmessage. If the random number generated is not from one to twenty-eight(i.e., approximately ninety percent of the time), the program moves tostep 568 to generate a company stock quote.

In generating an industry specific message, the program moves from step562 to step 569 to subtract twenty from the random number and to step570 to determine whether the new random number is less than or equal tofour. If the random number generated is greater than four, the programmoves to step 571 to cause a change in the price trend of the particularindustry by minus three and to subtract four from the new random number.The program then moves to step 572 to pick the individual companies inthe industry and change their price trends by the minus three points. Toaccomplish this, each company is given a number from one to eight withcompanies having adjacent numbers being in the same industry. The numberrealized at step 572 is multiplied by two at step 572 to get one companyin the industry, and one is subtracted from the result to get the othercompany. The price trend of each company is then reduced by three.

From step 572 the program moves to step 573 to generate a negativeindustry specific message, and then returns to step 116 shown in FIG.4(a).

If at step 570 the random number is equal to or less than four, theprogram moves to step 574 to generate a positive change of three intrend of the particular companies in the industry and then moves to step572 to determine the companies (as explained above) and to step 573 togenerate a positive message.

In generating a general interest message, the program moves from step564 to step 575 at which eight is subtracted from the random numbergenerated. This number is used to select a message which affects allcompanies at step 576. The program then moves to step 577 to determinewhether the random number selected less eight is greater than six. Ifthe number is greater than six (in half the cases), the program moves tostep 578 to generate a sign change of minus one and on to step 579. Atstep 579 the company number (see step 572) is divided by two andmultiplied by minus one to determine a change in the trend for theparticular company with negative messages. The program moves to step 579from step 577 if the random number is six or less and the message ispositive so that a positive change is added to the trend of eachcompany. From step 579, the program returns to step 116 shown in FIG.4(a).

In generating a company oriented message, the program moves from step567 to step 580 to generate a new random number between one and eight.The program then moves to step 581 to determine whether the new randomnumber generated is between one and four. If the random number isbetween one and four (in half the cases), the program moves to step 582to increase the company price trend by four. If the random number isgreater than four, the program moves to step 583 to decrease the companyprice trend by four. From steps 582 and 583, the program moves to step584 to institute the price change in the company stock and to step 585to schedule the appearance of a message which is company specific and isrelated to the increase or the decrease in the company stock. Theprogram then moves to step 116 shown in FIG. 4(a).

If at step 414 shown in FIG. 4(l), general information is not needed,the program moves to step 590 to determine whether a personalinformation message should be generated. If such a message is notrequired, the program returns to step 116 shown in FIG. 4(a). If apersonal information message is required, the program moves to step 600of a subroutine shown in FIG. 4(r).

FIG. 4(r) shows a flow chart for a subroutine used in the preferredembodiment for implementing the individual message generation. Thesubroutine commences at step 600 at which a determination is made as towhether the particular player has any cash. If the player has no cash,the program moves to step 601 to store in memory an indication that theplayer is a "loser" and to lock the player's keyboard 17 so that itcannot be used thereafter. From step 601, the program proceeds to step602 to schedule a message that the particular player is a "loser." Theprogram then recycles to step 116 shown in FIG. 4(a).

If at step 600 the player has cash, the program moves to step 604 toverify that the player's net worth is greater than zero. If the player'snet worth is greater than zero, the program moves to step 605 todetermine whether the verification process has been completed. If theprocess has been completed, the program moves to step 606 at which thetotal of all the assets owned by the player is computed.

If the verify process is not complete at step 605, the program moves tostep 607 at which a determination is made as to what step in the verifyprocess is taking place. The program alternates between a step in whichit determines whether options exist for particular shares and a summingof the value of shares owned. In odd steps, a summing takes place and,in this case, the program moves from step 607 to step 608 at which theprogress through the verification process is incremented by one step anda value of a particular company's shares is computed by multiplying theprice per share times the number of shares held. This value is added tothe sum and the program moves to step 609 to schedule the presentationof a message that the player owns a particular number of shares whichhave a value of a particular amount. The program then returns to step116 shown in FIG. 4(a).

If at step 607 the even steps of the verify process are involved, theprogram moves to step 611 to again increment the progress through theverification process and then to step 612 to determine whether a shortsale in a particular stock is outstanding. If a short sale isoutstanding, the program moves to step 613 to schedule a message such as"ABC SOLD SHORT" and then returns to step 116 shown in FIG. 4(a).

If at step 612 no option to sell short exists, the program moves to step615 to determine whether a call option exists. If a call option exists,the program moves to step 616 to schedule the presentation of a messagethat such a call option exists for a particular stock and then returnsto step 116 shown in FIG. 4(a). If at step 615 a call option does notexist, the program moves to step 618 to determine whether a put exists.If a put exists at step 618, the program moves to step 619 to schedulethe presentation of a message that a particular put exists. From step619 the program recycles to step 116 shown in FIG. 4(a). If at step 618no put option is outstanding, the program moves to step 620 to schedulethe presentation of a message regarding the particular company owned andthe number of shares owned. The program recycles to step 112 shown inFIG. 4(a).

At step 606 (mentioned above) at which the verification process iscompleted and the totals summed for the particular player, the programmoves to step 622 at which it is determined whether the sum of theplayer's net worth is greater than one million dollars. If the sum isgreater than one million dollars, the program moves to step 623 to storean indication that the player is a winner. From step 623 and from step622 if the player's net worth is less than one million dollars, theprogram moves to step 625 to store the total of cash owned by the playerand to step 626 to schedule a presentation of a message regarding thetotal net worth of the player. The program then returns to step 116shown in FIG. 4(a).

If at step 604 mentioned above, a verification of holdings is notrequired, the program moves to step 630 to generate a random number fromzero to two hundred fifty-five. From step 630, the program moves to step631 to determine whether that random number is less than six. If therandom number is less than six (in approximately one out of forty-threecases), a personal message such as "REAL ESTATE LOSS" occurs and cash isadded to or subtracted from the player's account. In such a case, theprogram moves to step 632 to add or subtract from the player's cashaccording to the personal event generated and then moves to step 633 toschedule the presentation of the message regarding the particularpersonal event. If the random number is not less than six, the programmoves to step 634 to schedule the presentation of a message regardingthe particular player's cash holdings. From step 633 and step 634, theprogram returns to step 116 shown in FIG. 4(a).

As will be understood by those skilled in the art, many differentprograms may be utilized to implement the flow charts disclosed in thisspecification. Obviously, those programs will vary from one another indifferent degrees. However, it is well within the skill of the art ofthe computer programmer to provide particular programs for implementingeach of the steps of the flow charts disclosed herein. It is also to beunderstood that various microcomputer circuits might be programmed forimplementing each of the steps of the flow charts disclosed hereinwithout departing from the teaching of the invention. It is therefore tobe understood that, because various other embodiments may be devised bythose skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention, it is the intention of the inventors to be limited onlyby the scope of the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. A market game comprising at least two playerpositions each including display means for simulating a stock marketterminal, control circuit means adapted to cause the display to indicatestocks available in the game and the prices thereof, and input meansassociated with each player position for signaling the control circuitmeans to purchase and sell shares of stock available, and in which thecontrol circuit means includes means for automatically detecting whethera player position is occupied, including means for determining whetherthe input means associated with that player position has been actuated,and means for automatically simulating the play of a human player at anyposition at which the associated input means has not been actuated.
 2. Amarket game comprising at least two player positions each includingpublic display means for indicating public information at all playerpositions, and each including private display means viewable only at itsparticular player position for selectively indicating information whichis confidential to that particular player; input means associated witheach player position for designating a market transaction; transactioncontrol means responsive to the input means for generating transactioninformation based on the designated transaction; stock control means forproviding stock information including stocks available in the game andthe prices thereof; and display control means responsive to thetransaction control means and the stock control means for determiningthe appropriate display means for indicating the transaction informationand the stock information as a function of the source of theinformation, and for causing the appropriate display means to indicatethe transaction information and the stock information.
 3. A market gameas in claim 2 in which both the public and private display means includemeans for providing alphanumeric indications which scroll from right toleft.
 4. A market game as in claim 2 wherein the input means includesmeans for designating companies the stock of which is to be purchased orsold, means for designating the type of transaction, and means fordesignating numbers of shares.
 5. A market game as in claim 4 in whichthe display control means causes the private display means at aparticular player position to indicate a share purchase transactionexecuted at that player position.
 6. A market game as in claim 6 inwhich the display control means further causes the public display meansto indicate the share purchase transaction if that player position hasaccumulated a selected number of the shares.
 7. A market game as inclaim 2 wherein the input means associated with each player alsoincludes means for signaling the transaction control means to sell shortshares of a stock.
 8. A market game as in claim 2 wherein the inputmeans associated with each player position also includes means forsignaling the transaction control means to place a call for shares of astock.
 9. A market game as in claim 2 wherein the input means associatedwith each player position also includes means for signaling thetransaction control means to place a put for shares of a stock.
 10. Amarket game as in claim 2 which further comprises input means by which aplayer may designate amounts to be borrowed, and in which the displaycontrol means causes the private display means to indicate a credit lineat that particular player position.
 11. A market game as in claim 10 inwhich the input means further includes means at each player position forpaying back amounts borrowed.
 12. A market game as in claim 10 in whichthe transaction control means includes means for automaticallycollecting amounts borrowed.
 13. A market game as in claim 10 in whichthe display control means causes the private display means to indicatemargin calls.
 14. A market game as in claim 2 in which the transactioncontrol means includes means for assigning a specified cash amount toeach player position, and means for summing the cash held at each playerposition; and the display control means causes the private display meansat each player position to indicate the cash held at that respectiveplayer position.
 15. A market game as in claim 2 in which thetransaction control means includes means for assigning initial assets toeach player position, and means for summing the assets of each playerposition; and the display control means causes the private display meansat each player position to indicate the assets accumulated at thatrespective player position.
 16. A market game as in claim 15 in whichthe display control means causes the public and private display means toindicate when the assets accumulated at a player position aggregate overa selected value.
 17. A market game as in claim 15 in which the displaycontrol means causes the public and private display means to indicatewhen the assets accumulated at a player position aggregate less than aselected value.
 18. A market game as in claim 2 in which the displaycontrol means causes the public display means to indicate dividends foreach stock available, and the transaction control means causes dividendsto be paid to player positions owning stock.
 19. A market game as inclaim 2 in which the display control means causes the public displaymeans to exhibit messages indicative of conditions affecting the priceof stocks available, and the stock control means includes means forvarying the prices of stocks available in accordance with the messages.20. A market game as in claim 2 in which the stock control means furthercomprises means for selecting an initial price for each stock available,and means for selecting a price trend for each stock by which the priceof such stock varies from the initial price as stock price quotescontinue.
 21. A market game as in claim 20 in which the stock controlmeans further comprises means for varying the price trend of a company.22. A market game as in claim 21 in which the means for varying theprice trend of a company is responsive to economic news.
 23. A marketgame as in claim 21 in which the means for varying the price trend of acompany is responsive to a maximum price.
 24. A market game as in claim21 in which the means for varying the price trend of a company operateson a random basis.
 25. A market game as in claim 21 further comprisinginput means for varying the price index of a company, and in which themeans for varying the price trend of a company is responsive to themeans for varying the price index of a company.
 26. A market game as inclaim 20 in which the display control means causes the public displaymeans to indicate that a company is bankrupt if its stock price fallsbelow a prescribed amount.
 27. A market game as in claim 26 in which thestock control means comprises means for valuing stock of a bankruptcompany accumulated at a player position at zero.
 28. A market game asin claim 20 in which the display control means causes the public displaymeans to indicate that the shares of a stock in a company are splittingwhen the price of those shares reaches a maximum.
 29. A market game asin claim 2 further including personal event control means for randomlygenerating personal event information affecting the net worth of aparticular player, and in which the display control means is furtherresponsive to the personal event control means for causing the privatedisplay means at the particular player position to indicate the personalevent information.